Castells & Lanier

Castells and Time

In chapter 10 of Castells, he talks about the transformation of time from sequential to "timeless time." As a long-time fan of the Twilight Zone and other sci fi, as well as a long-time meditator, I found this concept fascinating. Can we really end our sense of sequential time? Can we travel into the past and future through digital technology? Or is it all a matter of perspective? When one is meditating, time stops--there is no past or future, only the present moment, a timeless sense of floating in an altered state of mind. In the deepest form of meditation, the "I am" of self merges with the cosmic consciousness of the universe, creating a timeless unity. Somehow I don't think that's exactly what Castells had in mind. Certainly many writers and other artists has eschewed linear formats in favor of other perspectives. Yet, whatever our point of view, we have a built in biological clock and therefore, we are born, we age, and we die. That urgency of limited time informs every decision we humans make--it is quintessentially the human condition. So I'd have to say that we humans are driven by our own internal clock, and no digital technology can eliminate that. But the new technology can alter our sense of time significantly, and I think that's what Castells means.

Lanier and the Hive Mind

Lanier makes the point that professional writers have learned their craft and spent time articulating a perspective. He says, "Real writing, writing meant to last,...involves articulating a perspective that is not just reactive to yesterday's moves in a conversation." Many commentators wait until they see what the crowd (in Lanier's terms, the hive mind) wants before offering their own point of view. What makes it more dangerous is that it is easy to abrogate responsibility for one's words when there is anonymity. I agree with Lanier that there has been a "a disregard for the nuances of considered opinions, and an increased tendency to enshrine the official or normative beliefs of an organization." There is a place for Wikipedia, but it should not be regarded as gospel. Lanier notes that he can't even control his own bio on Wikipedia, which he finds to be distorted. He points out that "the hive mind should be thought of as a tool. Empowering the collective does not empower individuals--just the reverse is true." Power tools come with instructions and safety tips. We need some rules and safeguards to govern the hive mind, plus the power to enforce them.

Calhoun, Harvey & Appadurai

1. Calhoun provided a good background for our reading of Harvey's lens of historical-geographical materialism. Calhoun described globalization as inextricably bound up in the context of history. He noted that globalization is not a natural process, but rather, is a reflection of power, which is inherently unequal. He noted that it is multidimensional, affecting markets, media and migration. Appadurai concurs that the four key factors in understanding globalization are financial capital, electronic information technology, the growing gaps between rich and poor, and the new kinds of migration in the world labor market.

After their initial discussion of what drives globalization, Harvey and Appadurai continue with disturbing analyses of its dire consequences. Harvey concurs with the NY Times' view that "America's entire war on terrorism is an exercise in imperialism." Appadurai sees the 9/11 attacks as "a massive act of social punishment" for America's "moral travesties around the world." Appadurai describes our post-9/11 world as one in which "order...is organized around the fact or the prospect of violence," a world that destabilizes two of our cherished assumptions: "that peace is the natural marker of social order and that the nation-state is natural guarantor and container of such order." In this world, "civilians do not exist."

Harvey quotes Arendt: "Since power is essentially only a means to an end a community based solely on power must decay...only by acquiring more power can it guarantee the status quo; only by constantly extending its authority...through process of power accumulation can it remain stable." Harvey notes that accumulation is done by dispossession, by taking away the rights, lands, and livelihoods of anyone who stands in the way of the U.S.'s "perpetually expansionary" capitalist imperialism.

2. I was taken by Calhoun's point that globalization exists only because it is imagined. This concept follows up on our Anderson reading last semester on Imagined Communities. Calhoun's concept of globalization's existence relying on our imagining it is both radical and self-evident. .

I was disturbed by the apocalyptic vision of Appadurai, who sees growing "macroviolence" as a fact of life that we must learn to live with. I would like to have seen some suggestions as to how to address the dire circumstances that he describes.